When Reggie Evans sold a foul like there was a sniper in the grassy knoll at Staples Center (you can see the video above, where a flagrant 2 was rightly reduced to a personal foul) it brought up a discussion of the Clippers and flopping. As in they do it a lot. As in people are starting to call them “flop city.”

Well, not if you ask Vinny Del Negro. His team needs to flop more, he thinks. He stood in there and took the charge for his team. Here is the quote, via the Orange County Register.

“We’re flopping a lot? I wish we would flop a lot. Maybe we’d get some charges,” he said. “I don’t know anybody on our team that flops. It’s all around the league. I wouldn’t say our team is a flopping team at all — maybe one or two guys. If we get the call, I like it.”

Um, yes you are flopping a lot. The Clippers may lead the league there.

You can argue that the Clippers and their attacking style means they also take a lot of hard fouls, that’s a legit complaint. Some of that goes uncalled, I’ll give you that as well. But the Clippers flop and complain about calls with the best of them. Or worst, depending on your interpretation. The video evidence litters YouTube. Or look at TrueHoop’s list of the league’s biggest floppers.

Blake Griffin can be quite the actor. Here is my personal favorite, asking for a call after he hits himself in the face.

Chris Paul also has a long history of selling calls — this is a competitive guy who has always needed to do everything possible to get his teams to win. This is older but still a favorite, a compilation via Royce Young of Daily Thunder of all CP3’s flop in one game.

the Wizards have shown little appetite for dealing Otto Porter anywhere for a return heavy on future assets and cap flexibility, sources say

John Wall‘s massive contract looked barely movable even before he underwent season-ending surgery. Washington seems unwilling to take a step back by trading star Bradley Beal.

So, that leaves unloading Porter – who’s earning $26,011,913 this year and due $55,739,815 over the next two seasons – as the obvious way to create cap flexibility and accumulate future assets. If the Wizards are unwilling to do that, it speaks volumes to their plan.

They don’t want to rebuild. They want to win now. Porter can help them do that.

In many ways, it’s noble Washington is so committed to winning, even at great expense. That’s generally what we want from teams. We don’t want them to give up or cut costs just because they’re a couple games out of playoff position midway through the season.

But the Wizards’ spending has been… uneven. Leonsis greenlit a payroll well into the luxury tax and is apparently willing to keep Porter, which likely keeps that payroll high. Yet, Washington is also holding as many roster spots vacant as allowed, offering small savings rather than adding depth amid multiple injuries.

Maybe the Wizards just don’t believe they could sign minimum-salary players who’d actually help. But insurance never hurts on the court.

So, Washington is left looking content holding its few major contracts, nickeling-and-diming down the roster, winning a barely moderate amount and not gaining better position for the future. I’m unconvinced that’s a worthy vision, but if that’s what the Wizards want, keeping Porter helps stay that course.

Boston Celtics guard Marcus Smart has been fined $35,000 for aggressively pursuing an opponent in an attempt to escalate a physical altercation and failing to leave the court in a timely manner following his ejection, it was announced today by Kiki VanDeWeghe, Executive Vice President, Basketball Operations.

The incident, which took place after Smart was assessed his second technical foul and was ejected, occurred with 7:35 remaining in the third quarter of the Celtics’ 113-105 victory over the Atlanta Hawks on Jan. 19

Smart was seemingly near the line between this fine and a suspension. He’s fortunate to land on the side he did.